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The Science of Psychology PDF
The Science of Psychology PDF
00 EXAM 1 NOTES
KOSSLYN CHAPTER 1 – Introduction to the Science of Psychology: History and Research
Methods
Psychologists use science to try to understand not only why people behave in abnormal or self-
destructive ways but also why and how people think, feel, and behave in “normal ways.
What is Psychology?
Psychology – the science of the mind and behavior
• Science – uses objective evidence to reason about possible causes of a phenomenon; tests the
resulting ideas by collecting additional facts that will either support the ideas or refute them
• Mind – what the brain does when you are thinking or feeling
o To collect objective facts about the mind, we often work backward
• Ex: observe what people do on the outside, and infer what could be going on
inside
o Another method: brain-scanning • show physical changes of brain at work and relate
those to the mental events they produce
• Ex: amygdala activation suggests strong emotional reactions
• Behavior – the outwardly observable acts of a person, alone or in a group
o Physical movements
“Layers upon layers” � an individual’s mental state depends on brain functioning, and mental
events affect his or her behavior, and – at the same time – these events are affected by the
surrounding group (the members of which, in turn, have their own individual minds and
behaviors).
Research in psychology: describe / explain AND predict / control mental events and behavior!!
This “levels” view of psychology lets you see how different types of theories and discoveries
illuminate the same phenomenon but also lets you see how these theories and discoveries are
interconnected – and thus how the field of psychology as a whole emerges from them.
Please pardon any spelling errors or typos!
Page 1 of 9
9.00 EXAM 1 NOTES
KOSSLYN CHAPTER 1 – Introduction to the Science of Psychology: History and Research
Methods
Structuralism – the school of psychology that sought to identify the basic elements of consciousness
(the state of being aware) and to describe the rules and circumstances under which these elements
combine to form mental structures
• Began with the work of Wilhelm Wundt
• First organized “school of thought” in psychology
• Consciousness itself occurs at the level of the person, but this process relies on brain function
o Wundt’s research led him to characterize 2 types of elements of consciousness:
1. Sensations
2. Feelings
• Edward Titchener (student of Wundt) – broadened structuralist approach to apply it to the
nature of concepts and thinking in general
• Primary research tool: introspection – the technique of observing your mental events as, or
immediately after, they occur
o Ex: What is the nature of mental images? What factors are emphasized when making
decisions?
o Problems with introspection:
1. How do you prove that mental images actually exist and that objects can
indeed be visualized?
• Mental images are not “universal.”
2. A considerable amount of mental contents / mental processing cannot be
accessed via introspection.
Functionalism – the school of psychology that sought to understand how the mind helps individuals
to adapt to the world around them, to function effectively in it
• Why humans think, feel, and behave as we do?
• Addressed events at the level of the person and at the level of the group
• Wanted to gather knowledge that could be put to immediate use
• Studied the methods by which people learn; how goals and beliefs are shaped by
environments
• Theorized that human psychology (at least some of it) is related to the psychology of animals
o Led to the study of animal behavior that can provide clues about characteristics of
human mind and behavior
• Focus on social issues – ex: improving methods of education
Gestalt Psychology – an approach to understanding mental events that focuses on the idea that the
whole is more than the sum of its parts
• Interested in consciousness, particularly as it arises during perception (the organizing and
interpreting of sensory information)
• Focus on the levels of the brain and the person
• Led by Max Wertheimer – noted that much of the content of our thoughts comes from what
we perceive, and further, from inborn tendencies to structure what we sense in certain ways
• Developed >100 perceptual laws (principles) that describe how our minds organize the world
o Perceptual unit – a whole formed from individual parts
• Ex: flock of birds
• Why Gestalt Psychology is important – perception is the gateway to the world
o If our perceptions are not accurate, our corresponding thoughts and feelings will be
based on distorted views of reality.
• The research of the Gestaltists addressed how mental processes work, and this work in turn
led to detailed studies of how the brain gives rise to such mental processes and how mental
processes influence mental contents.
Edward Lee Thorndike, John B. Watson, Clark L. Hull, B.F. Skinner – psychology should concentrate
on understanding directly observable behavior
Behaviorism – the school of psychology that focuses on how a specific stimulus (object, person, or
event) evokes a specific response (behavior in reaction to the stimulus)
• Stimulus-response associations
• Focus on events at the level of the person
• Key idea: reinforcement – a desirable consequence that occurs after an individual responds to a
stimulus in a particular way
o Ex: rewards, payment for a job
o If the consequence of a response is reinforcing, we are likely to repeat the response
when we encounter the stimulus. If a response produces an undesirable consequence
(“punishment”), we are less likely to do it again.
• Developed important principles that describe the conditions (i.e.: history of reinforcement) in
which particular responses are likely to occur or not occur
• Emphasis on controlled, objective observation
• Unfortunately, many of the behaviorists’ objections to the study of mental contents and
processes have not stood the test of time.
o We can study mental contents and mental processes!
o Consequences alone cannot account for behavior.
Humanistic Psychology – the school of psychology that assumes people have positive values, free
will, and deep inner creativity, the combination of which allow them to choose life-fulfilling paths
to personal growth
• Emerged as a reaction to Freud and behaviorism
• Abraham Maslow
• Focus on the level of the person
• All individuals and their unique experiences should be respected
• Carl Rogers – developed a therapy based on the humanistic approach • client-centered therapy
o Human nature leads each of us to want to develop to our fullest potential, and the
therapist’s job is to help us to do so.
o Therapists should be unconditionally supportive and provide a positive environment
to help the client overcome obstacles and develop to their full potential.
• Emphasis on humans as active agents who can formulate plans and make decisions.
• Led to the emergence of positive psychology – area of psychology that focuses on “the strengths
and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive.”
Cognitive Psychology – the approach in psychology that attempts to characterize the mental events
that allow information to be stored and operated on internally
• The mind is like the software (with stored data) on a computer, and the brain is like the
hardware (the machine itself)
Computers showed why it is important that there be a science of the unobservable events that take
place in the head.
• If someone is acting oddly, we must go beyond the essential step of noticing unusual
behavior; we also need to think about what is happening inside and consider what is causing
the problem
The cognitive revolution led to new ways of conceptualizing and treating mental disorders.
Please pardon any spelling errors or typos!
Page 4 of 9
9.00 EXAM 1 NOTES
KOSSLYN CHAPTER 1 – Introduction to the Science of Psychology: History and Research
Methods
Cognitive Neuroscience – the approach in psychology that blends cognitive psychology and
neuroscience (the study of the brain) when attempting to specify how the brain gives rise to
mental processes that store and process information
• Discover the nature, organization, and operation of mental events by studying the brain
• Goal: distinguish among different sorts of mental processes by showing that different brain
areas give rise to those processes
• Considers events at 3 levels of analysis, primary focus on the brain
Evolutionary Psychology – the approach in psychology that assumes that certain cognitive strategies
and goals are so important that natural selection has built them into our brains
• Addresses events at all 3 levels of analysis, but primary focus on the levels of the person and
group
• Lida Cosmides, John Tooby, David Buss, Steven Pinker
• Ex: lying
o More devious ancestors had more children who survived than did their nonlying
contemporaries and their lying children, who inherited this ability in turn had more
children, etc,, until the ability to lie was inborn in all members of our species
• Compare human abilities with those of other animals, especially non-human primates
• Evolutionary theories are difficult to test because we don’t’ know what our ancestors were like
/ how they evolved
• Human factors psychologist – professional who works to improve products so that people can
use them more intuitively and effectively
• Developmental psychologist – researches and teaches the development of mental contents and
processes, as well as behavior, with age and experience
• Physiological psychologist – studies the brain and brain-body interactions
• Social psychologist – researches and teaches how people think and feel about themselves and
other people and how groups function
• Personality psychologist – researches and teaches individual differences in preferences and
inclinations
• Industrial/organizational (I/O) psychologist – focuses on using psychology in the workplace
• Sport psychologist – applies psychology to improve athlete performance
• Educational / school psychologist – applies psychology to improve cognitive, emotional, and
social development of schoolchildren
The Scientific Method – a way to gather facts that will lead to the formulation and validation (or
refutation) of a theory
1. Systematically Observing Events
a. All science ultimately begins with observations. Scientists want to know the facts.
b. Facts are established by collecting data – careful descriptions or numerical
measurements of a phenomenon.
2. Formulating a Question
3. Forming a Hypothesis
a. Hypothesis – tentative idea that might explain a set of observations; specifies a
relationship between two or more variables (often proposing that one variable causes
another)
i. Variable – an aspect of a situation that can vary, or change; specifically, a
characteristics of a substance, quantity, or entity that is measurable
4. Testing the Hypothesis
a. The key concepts of a hypothesis must be specific enough to test.
b. Operational definition – a definition of a concept that specifies how it is measured or
manipulated
c. Need 2 types of observations:
i. Those that directly address the object of study
ii. Those that indirectly address the object of study
5. Formulating a Theory
a. Theory – concepts or principles that explain a set of research findings; focuses on the
underlying reasons why certain relationships may exist in data
6. Testing the Theory
a. Theories must be able to explain previous observations after the fact and also predict
new ones.
Naturalistic Observation – collected from real-world settings, observing events as they naturally occur
• Often the first step of the scientific method because it is difficult to use to test specific
Case Studies – scientific studies that focus on a single participant, examining his or her psychological
characteristics (at any or all of the levels of analysis) in detail
• Goal: discover underlying principles that can be applied to all similar people
• Limitations: must be cautious generalizing from a single case
Surveys – set of questions that people are asked about their beliefs, attitudes, preferences, or activities
• Inexpensive way to collect a lot of data quickly
• Popular among psychologists who study personality, social interactions
• Limitations: some require respondents to introspect about their feelings (people may not be
capable of reporting accurately all such information); people may not always respond
honestly; some people who are asked may not respond to the survey • it is difficult to know
whether the responses obtained are actually representative of the whole group that the survey
was designed to assess
• Design considerations: survey questions must be carefully worded so that they don’t lead the
respondents to answer in a certain way
Independent Variable – the aspect of the situation that is deliberately and independently varied while
another aspect is measured
Dependent Variable – the aspect of the situation that is measured as the values of an independent
variable are changed; in an experiment, the value of the dependent variable is expected to depend
on the value of the independent variable
By examining the link between independent and dependent variables, a researcher hopes to discover
exactly which factor is causing an effect: the difference in the value of the dependent variable that
arises from change sin the independent variable
Confounding variable – any aspect of the situation that varies along with the independent variable (or
variables) of interest and could be the actual basis for what is measured
• Confounds lead to results that are ambiguous, that do not have a clear-cut interpretation.
Experimental and Control Groups and Conditions eliminate the possible influences of confounds
Experimental Group – a group that receives the complete procedures that defines the experiment
Control Group – a group that is treated exactly the same way as the experimental group, except that
the independent variable that is the focus o the study is not manipulated. The control group holds
constant – “controls” – all of the variables in the experimental group
Random assignment – the technique of assigning participants randomly, that is, by chance, to the
experimental and the control groups, so that the members of the two groups are comparable in all
relevant ways
Rather than using 2 different groups to disentangle confounds, researchers might have a single group
that has 2 different conditions:
Experimental condition – a part of the study in which participants receive the complete procedure
that defines the experiment
Control condition – a part of the study in which participants receive the same procedures as in the
experiment condition, except that the independent variable of interest is not manipulated
In other words, the same people are tested twice, once in each condition.
Quasi-Experimental Design – includes independent and dependent variables and assesses the effects
of different values of the independent variable on the values of the dependent variable, but
participants are not randomly assigned to conditions and the conditions typically are selected
from naturally occurring situations
• Used because it is not always possible or desirable to assign people to different groups
randomly
• Advantage: allows the study of real-world phenomena that cannot be studied in experiments
• Disadvantage: cannot control relevant aspects of the independent variables
Meta-Analysis – statistical technique that allows researchers to combine results form different studies
on the same topic in order to discover whether there is a relationship among variables
• Useful when the results from many studies are not entirely consistent, with some showing an
effect and some not
• Not a way to collect new data � it is a way of analyzing data that have already been collected
• By combining the samples form many studies, meta-analysis allows you to detect even subtle
differences or relations among variables
Reliability – consistency; data are reliable if the same values are obtained when the measurements are
repeated
Validity – a research method is valid if it does in fact measure what it is supposed to measure
Bias – when conscious or unconscious beliefs, expectations, or habits alter how participants in a study
respond or affect how a researcher sets up or conducts a study, thereby influencing its outcome
• Response bias – a tendency to respond in a particular way regardless of respondents’ actual
knowledge or beliefs
• Sampling bias – a bias that occurs when the participants are not chosen at random but instead
are chosen so that one attribute is over- or underrepresented
Experimenter Expectancy Effects – effects that occur when an investigator’s expectations lead him or
her (consciously or unconsciously) to treat participants in a way that encourages them to produce
the expected results
Double-design Design – the participant is “blind” to (unaware to) the predictions of the study ( and so
cannot consciously or unconsciously produce the predicted results) and the experimenter is
“blind” to the group to which the participant has been assigned or to the condition that the
participant is receiving ( and so experimenter expectancy effects cannot produce the predicted
results)
New Frontiers: Neuroethics � focus on the possible dangers and benefits of research on the brain
Please pardon any spelling errors or typos!
Page 9 of 9
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